TYPES AND BREEDS OF DUCKS 



441 



of the Rouen, known as the Diiclair-Rotieyi, resembHng it in color 

 but having a white neck and breast, is regarded as of the same 

 original stock, unimproved by fancier's selection and not crossed 

 with the Mallard, which was used in the Rouen to give brilliancy 

 of color. The bill of the Rouen is greenish in the male and 

 brown in the female ; the legs and feet are orange with a green 

 or brown shade. 



The Aylesbury Duck. The Aylesbury Duck takes its name from 

 the vale of Aylesbury in England. The white ducks of that district 



Fig. 469. Blue Swedish Ducks. (Photograph from owner, Sunswick Farm, 

 Plainfield, New Jersey) 



were long celebrated for their quality, and in time the name came 

 to be applied generally, in England, to large white ducks. No 

 definite accounts of their origin are given. The natural inference 

 is that this breed was composed of white individuals from various 

 sources. Such a race might have been made by improvement and 

 selection without recourse to crosses with other improved races, 

 but it is believed that both the Rouen and Pekin have been crossed 

 with the Aylesbury to restore vitality lost through indifferent breed- 

 ing. The plumage is white throughout, the bill flesh-colored, the 

 legs and feet pale orange. 



